FSU's Cotrone Upsets No. 17 van Overbeek

Tallahassee, FL - Florida State’s underclassmen continued to provide the top highlights for the squad today at the Bedford Cup in Gainesville. Sophomore Dominic Cotrone had a huge upset against the No. 17 player in the nation Bob van Overbeek of Florida. The Seminoles advanced two doubles teams to tomorrow’s quarterfinals.

“I was pleased with our doubles play,” head coach Dwayne Hultquist said. “It’s been a highlight of the tournament. I thought we won two tight matches over Miami and FAMU. Dominic had two really good wins today and I was especially pleased with his win over the No. 17 player. His return serve and his ability to control points really worked well today.”

The day started with singles play where Cotrone and senior Jordan Kelly-Houston were the only players to walk away with wins in the second round. Cotrone topped Victor Mauz of Miami 6-3, 6-4. Kelly-Houston won 4-6, 7-6, 6-2 over North Florida’s Pedro Davisson.

The highlight of the day was when Cotrone took the court against van Overbeek on Gator territory. As Cotrone began to read van Overbeek, the Bradenton, Fla., native was able to break the Gator to upset him in two sets. He won 6-4, 6-4 and will play in the semifinals tomorrow against Federico Sabogal of USF.

“I knew it would be a very tough match,” Cotrone said. “Dwayne (Hultquist) and Nick (Crowell) gave me a good strategy before the match but Evan (Urbina) was the one that was on court with me. We came up with a slogan ‘weather the storm’ that really helped me. We came up with slogan because Bob (van Overbeek) has a big serve and a big forehand. I made sure I continued to play physical tennis and went for my shots. I served real well and I’m happy with the way I played.”

In doubles play, the Seminoles won two of three quarterfinal matches. Sophomore Cristian Gonzalez Mendez and redshirt-freshman João Gauer topped Miami’s Omar Aly and Mark Schanerman 8-6. Senior Andres Bucaro and sophomore Benjamin Lock came up big with an 8-5 win over Florida A&M’s Salif Kante and Takura Happy. The two Florida State teams will square off with each other tomorrow at 2 pm.

“Benjamin and I have been really focused and intense when we play doubles,” described Bucaro. “We feed off each other’s energy and stay positive all the time. We have fun out there every time.”

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